Ever since taking the job at UNC, head football coach Bill Belichick has been making waves in recruiting, in the mix for a lot of highly-ranked recruits. Belichick brings a long history of success with him to the Tar Heels, including winning six Super Bowls, coaching the greatest quarterback in NFL history, and having the third most wins in NFL history.
Some recruits looking to attend UNC to be coached by Belichick could see this opportunity as learning a blueprint of the NFL in college football. For one defensive lineman, he has narrow his choices down to six school, one of them being UNC.
Four-star defensive lineman Vodney Cleveland has narrowed his choices down to Florida, Georgia, Miami, Texas, Auburn, and of course, UNC. After decommitting from Alabama in December, Cleveland has taken his time choosing where he will go next.
🚨NEWS🚨 4-star DL Vodney Cleveland is down to 6️⃣ schools, @Hayesfawcett3 reports.
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) February 18, 2025
Read: https://t.co/uq2kJH4qAM pic.twitter.com/u0LyJWZlww
Last month, Cleveland made a visit to Auburn and two visits to Florida in the span of three weeks. While it seems he enjoyed his time in Gainesville, the young star defensive lineman still has yet to make his decision.
Cleveland is ranked as the No. 3 defensive lineman at his position in the 2026 recruiting class. In his junior season, Cleveland totaled 50 tackles, which included 7.5 tackles for a loss and added 5.5 sacks to his stat line, helping lead his school to an Alabama 6A state title.
Bringing this kind of talent on the defensive side of the ball would be huge for Belichick adn his squad. Since taking he job in December, Belichick has been hard at work building his team with both the transfer portal and through high school recruiting.
Cleveland still has yet to announce when he will make his decision for his commitment, but here is to hoping that he ends up in Tar Heel blue in 2026.